MARGAO: Seven sacks of clamshell (tisryo) were detected and seized by three proactive citizens – Nelson Fernandes, Ethel Lobo and Sanjeev Raiturkar – at Margao Railway station. The stock had arrived by the Matsyagandha Express from Mangalore at 7.05 pm.
The trio claimed that they suspected that fish was being imported from Mangalore and were waiting at the platform for more than three hours. When the train arrived, the trio identified the sacks when few shells fell out of the sack as they were being unloaded.
The trio alerted the Railway Police and authorities who confiscated the sacks. The Railway authorities, however, did not disclose the name of the sender or recipient of the cargo.
Raiturkar said, “This seizure proves that the Home Department is not functioning in Goa. The railway authorities claimed that they received the ban order only this morning. The ban is useless since fish is still entering. The tisryo was not kept in ice and the clams were open. I strongly suspect that formalin was applied.”
Fernandes said, “The railway authority told us that they have not informed their counterparts in neighbouring states not to send any cargo of fish or clams to Goa.”
